MOZAMBIQUE (Tier 2 Watch List)
The Government of Mozambique does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. These efforts included increasing investigations and prosecutions, training law enforcement and front-line officials, publishing and disseminating draft SOPs for trafficking victim referral and care and raising public awareness to prevent fraudulent labor recruitment. The government convened government and civil society stakeholders and coordinated with neighboring governments in cross-border reference groups. However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on its anti-trafficking capacity. Despite an increase in the number of initiated investigations, the government did not report identifying any trafficking victims and lacked adequate procedures for front-line officials to screen vulnerable populations for trafficking. For the seventh consecutive year, the government did not adopt its draft NRM and SOPs for care and referral of trafficking victims. The government did not report providing financial or in-kind support to the civil society organizations identifying and assisting potential victims. The lack of a formally adopted NAP, including dedicated resources for anti-trafficking efforts, reduced integration of anti-trafficking efforts. Reports of low-level official complicity in trafficking crimes persisted. The government did not provide sufficient resources to victim protection services, relying on NGOs and international organizations to provide the majority of services to trafficking victims. The government lacked effective policies or laws that would regulate foreign labor recruiters and hold them civilly and criminally liable for fraudulent recruiting. Therefore Mozambique was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.
PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:
* Finalize, adopt, and dedicate funds to implement the NAP.
* Finalize, approve, and implement the NRM and SOPs for referral and care of trafficking victims, and train officials on their use.
* Integrate victim identification and screening tools into victim care SOPs to enable front-line officials to systematically and proactively identify trafficking victims by screening vulnerable populations for trafficking indicators and referring them to appropriate services - including child abuse victims, victims of extremist groups including child soldiers, individuals in IDP and resettlement camps, individuals in commercial sex, returning migrants, and children without housing and/or engaged in street commerce.
* Increase provision of comprehensive services, including medical care, psycho-social counseling, and shelter, to all trafficking victims, including adults, males, and foreign nationals, and expand the availability of protective services for all victims, including long-term shelter and reintegration assistance.
* Amend the anti-trafficking law to bring the definition of trafficking in line with the definition of trafficking under international law.
* Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, which should involve significant prison terms.
* Finalize implementing regulations for trafficking victim-witness protection.
* Increase coordination among district, provincial, and national stakeholders to bolster reporting on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts.
* Build the capacity of the labor inspectorate and the Family and Child Assistance Units to identify potential trafficking victims, investigate trafficking cases, and refer victims to care.
* Implement and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including by eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.
PROSECUTION
The government maintained minimal law enforcement efforts. The 2008 Law on Preventing and Combating the Trafficking of People criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of 16 to 20 years’ imprisonment. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Inconsistent with international law, the law did not establish the use of force, fraud, or coercion as an essential element of the crime. The government continued to work with an international organization to review draft amendments to bring the 2008 anti-trafficking law in line with international standards; however, draft amendments remained awaiting approval by various stakeholders for the fourth consecutive reporting period.
The government investigated nine human trafficking cases, compared with two investigations in 2021, and continued investigating one case from the previous reporting period. The government initiated prosecutions of six suspects, compared with two suspects in 2021, and continued one prosecution from the previous reporting period. The government convicted two traffickers, the same number of traffickers convicted in 2021, sentencing one trafficker to 16 years in prison and the other to two years in prison. Due to conflation between migrant smuggling and human trafficking, the government may have prosecuted migrant smuggling crimes under its anti-trafficking law. The government reported pandemic restrictions continued to limit law enforcement’s ability to detect, prevent, and respond to human trafficking crimes for a portion of the reporting period.
The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in human trafficking crimes remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action. In the previous reporting period, the government opened a criminal investigation into human trafficking at Ndlavela Women’s Prison, where prison guards allegedly forced inmates through violence and intimidation to engage in commercial sex both inside and outside the prison. The government dismissed prison personnel and a criminal investigation remained ongoing at the end of the reporting period. To prevent future abuses, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) introduced new policies, including the assignment of only female guards in close physical proximity to female inmates and establishment of a formal complaint mechanism. Similar to previous years, traffickers commonly bribed police and immigration officials to facilitate trafficking domestically and transnationally, especially to South Africa.
The government, in partnership with an international organization, launched a course on combating human trafficking and migrant smuggling, training 18 prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and other stakeholders. With support from international organizations, provincial and local human trafficking reference groups, responsible for coordinating local anti-trafficking responses in Cabo Delgado, Maputo City, and Moamba trained its members and front-line officials on topics related to human trafficking and irregular migration, including the NRM and SOPs for vulnerable migrants. In partnership with an international organization, the government adapted a universal manual for criminal justice practitioners on human trafficking investigations to utilize in Mozambique. The government reported including an anti-trafficking curriculum in training for new police recruits. Observers noted that due to regular rotations, police and immigration officers required regular anti-trafficking training. Reportedly, National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) officers, responsible for and trained on human trafficking investigations, sometimes relied on NGOs to provide evidence in potential trafficking crimes. The government did not report contributing information on trafficking case investigations to a national centralized anti-trafficking data collection and reporting tool, as in previous years.
Police stations throughout the country had specialists, trained by the Mozambique Republic Police’s (PRM) Family and Child Assistance Units, available to respond and provide support to crime victims, including trafficking victims; victim support was available in more than 215 police stations and 22 “Victims of Violence" centers throughout the country, which included temporary shelter, food, and limited counseling. These centers provided services to four potential trafficking victims. Observers reported these centers were under-resourced. The government reported collaborating with the Governments of Angola, South Africa, Eswatini, and Tanzania to repatriate trafficking victims and investigate cross-border trafficking cases, sometimes with support of international organizations. PRM’s Family and Child Assistance Units collaborated with counterparts in South Africa, Eswatini, Malawi, and Sao Tome and Principe to strengthen coordination on trafficking cases.
PROTECTION
The government decreased already minimal victim protection efforts. The government did not report identifying any trafficking victims in 2022, compared with 15 victims identified in 2021 and two victims identified in 2020. The government reported it provided services to six potential trafficking victims, compared with zero in the prior reporting period in 2021. This included providing shelter for two potential Mozambican child trafficking victims identified and repatriated by South African authorities and providing temporary shelter for four potential trafficking victims at VSUs. Gaps in data collection may have contributed to the lack of comprehensive reporting on victim identification data. In cooperation with the government, NGOs and international organizations identified and repatriated nine potential trafficking victims from South Africa to Mozambique. Additionally, international organizations intercepted 1,023 potential trafficking victims through transit monitoring at bus stations and border crossings.
The government lacked adequate procedures to identify trafficking victims and screen vulnerable populations for trafficking. The government did not finalize and fully implement the draft NRM and SOPs for referral and care of trafficking victims for the seventh consecutive year. Observers reported the lack of formal NRM and SOPs and screening mechanisms limited front-line and community-level officials’ efforts to identify and refer victims to reference groups, and left many trafficking victims unidentified. In the absence of fully approved NRM and SOPs, the government continued to use a draft handbook for referral and care of trafficking victims, which included draft NRM and SOPs for referral and care of trafficking victims and intake forms for each agency represented in the reference groups. This draft handbook guided reference groups’ establishment and operation, as well as intake and referral of victims once identified; however, it did not contain procedures or screening tools for front-line officials to identify trafficking victims. Additionally, front-line officials lacked a general understanding of trafficking, which further hampered victim identification efforts. The government, in collaboration with an international organization, launched a new handbook for referral and care specifically focused on vulnerable migrants, which contained components on the referral and care of trafficking victims, directing reference group members to screen vulnerable migrants for trafficking indicators.
The government generally relied on civil society, international organizations, or foreign governments to identify trafficking victims and refer and provide them with care. The government did not report providing financial or in-kind support to civil society organizations providing trafficking victim services. The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Action operated one center provided short-term shelter, medical and psychological care, and legal assistance to child trafficking victims. Observers reported the complexity of the application process to house victims at government shelters precluded some victims from admittance. The government did not have short-term shelter for adult trafficking victims nor long-term shelters or transitional housing for trafficking victims. The government reported adult victims could be placed in shelters for the elderly but did not report doing so in the reporting period.
The anti-trafficking law required police protection for victims who participated as witnesses in criminal proceedings against traffickers; observers reported the government supported victims who assisted in investigations, but the government did not report how many victims received such services. The government did not report finalizing implementing regulations for trafficking victim-witness assistance, hindering the government’s provision of protection services for trafficking victims for the eighth consecutive reporting period. Mozambican law provided for temporary residency status or legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they might face hardship or retribution, but the government did not report granting status to foreign victims during the reporting period. Authorities may have inappropriately penalized trafficking victims for crimes traffickers compelled them to commit as a direct result of being trafficked; observers reported some potential victims, particularly irregular migrants, may have been deported or remained unidentified in the law enforcement system. According to media reports, the government deported at least 80 Malawian migrants, some of whom were trafficking victims, suggesting authorities did not follow appropriate procedures. International organizations indicated women and children exploited by extremist groups in Cabo Delgado province may not be appropriately screened by the government for trafficking indicators and, therefore, may not have received necessary services.
PREVENTION
The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent trafficking. The National Reference Group (NRG) for Child Protection, Trafficking in Persons, and Irregular Migration, chaired by the attorney general’s office, reported convening regularly to coordinate national anti-trafficking efforts with support of international organizations, and members met regularly in technical working groups to address specific trafficking cases. Provincial and district-level reference groups submitted monthly reports to the NRG on their anti-trafficking efforts and met with the NRG twice per year but did not report taking specific actions. The government remained without a NAP since 2012. The NRG updated a draft of the NAP, previously developed in 2017, incorporating specific considerations related to exploitation by extremist groups operating in northern Cabo Delgado Province, and resubmitted it to the MOJ. The MOJ approved and submitted the NAP to the Council of Ministers, where it awaited further approvals at the end of the reporting period. Formal launch of the NRM and SOPs for referral and care of trafficking victims also relied on adoption of the NAP. Government officials and civil society reported bureaucratic delays preventing the adoption of the NAP dampened inter-ministerial coordination efforts to implement a comprehensive response to trafficking. The government did not have a dedicated budget to combat trafficking, which limited overall anti-trafficking efforts.
The government reported conducting outreach and raising awareness in schools, churches, transportation hubs, and businesses in each province, as well as conducting awareness through TV and radio campaigns. The government continued implementation of SOPs in IDP camps in northern and central provinces to screen for trafficking indicators. International organizations, in partnership with the government and Rwandan security forces, continued a program to strengthen the capacity of Mozambican security forces to respond to child soldiering and gender-based violence by violent extremists. The Ministry of Labor held a national conference and eight provincial-level convenings to advance efforts to eliminate child labor, including child sex trafficking and forced labor. In partnership with an international organization, the government developed a joint action plan on addressing human trafficking and migrant smuggling with the Government of Eswatini. Pandemic-related restrictions on travel and in-person gatherings hampered the government’s awareness-raising efforts. The government collaborated with telecommunications providers to send a message to all Mozambiquan cell phones on World Day Against Trafficking to raise awareness on reporting trafficking crimes.
The government publicized two hotlines for crime victims equipped to receive reports of human trafficking and refer victims. It was not reported if these hotlines received any trafficking-related calls. The government continued providing in-kind technical support for an NGO-run hotline that was available to report crimes against children, including trafficking, and respond to callers in local languages. In 2022, this hotline received 11 reports of child trafficking, which were referred to law enforcement. The government reported providing mandatory training for new labor inspectors to screen for forced child labor during inspections; however, inspectors did not report identifying forced or child labor during 7,647 inspections conducted in 2022. Mozambican officials remained without effective policies or laws to regulate labor recruitment and hold fraudulent recruiters civilly and criminally liable. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to diplomats. The government reported raising awareness of human trafficking in areas known for commercial sex and screening individuals engaging in commercial sex for trafficking but did not report identifying any victims.
TRAFFICKING PROFILE:
As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Mozambique, and traffickers exploit victims from Mozambique abroad. Forced child labor occurs in agriculture, mining, and market vending in rural areas, often with the complicity of family members. Traffickers lure voluntary migrants, especially women and girls from rural areas, from neighboring countries, such as Malawi, to cities in Mozambique, Eswatini, or South Africa with promises of employment or education, and then they exploit those victims in domestic servitude and sex trafficking. Some traditional healers target individuals with albinism, who may be vulnerable to both sex and labor trafficking. Traffickers exploit Mozambican girls in bars, roadside clubs, overnight stopping points, and restaurants along the southern transport corridor that links Maputo with Eswatini and South Africa. Traffickers in and around mining worksites in Cabo Delgado province exploit girls in sex trafficking. Increasingly, traffickers recruit women and girls via the internet with promises of employment using fake business profiles on social media, then subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking or forced labor. The government reported the pandemic increased vulnerability to trafficking, especially for children targeted through social media. Children from vulnerable families, particularly with parents who are elderly or have a disability, were vulnerable to trafficking. Children from Gaza province, who migrate to Maputo and work in informal street vending, may be vulnerable to trafficking. Child sex trafficking is prevalent in the cities of Maputo, Beira, Chimoio, Tete, and Nacala, which have highly mobile populations and large numbers of long-distance truck drivers.
An international organization reported there were more than 98,000 IDPs in Mozambique as a result of sudden-onset climate events, including tropical cyclones; individuals in displacement camps or otherwise affected by cyclones were vulnerable to trafficking. Additionally, an international organization reported in December 2022, there were over one million IDPs in northern and central Mozambique as a result of violent extremism and instability in the region; non-state armed groups exploited women and children in forced labor and sex trafficking. In addition, non-state armed groups recruited or used child soldiers. Extremists lure youth to Cabo Delgado with promises of employment in the fishing sector, and then force them to fight with non-state armed groups.
Traffickers exploit Mozambican men and boys in forced labor on South African farms and mines, where victims often work for months without pay under coercive conditions before being turned over to police for deportation as undocumented migrants. Mozambican boys migrate to Eswatini to wash cars, herd livestock, and sell goods; some subsequently become victims of forced labor. Traffickers exploit Mozambican adults and girls in forced labor and sex trafficking abroad, including in Angola, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Cyprus, and Hungary. Reports allege traffickers bribe officials to move victims within the country and across national borders to South Africa and Eswatini. In 2021, at a cement factory owned by a PRC-based company in Matutuine, PRC national managers subjected approximately 300 Mozambicans to forced labor, according to media reports.